1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for broadcasting a message to a plurality of receivers and for tracking the responses to the broadcast message. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods that can be used by a plurality of buyers to request bids from a plurality of suppliers and track the responses to the request.
2. The Prior State of the Art
The task of large scale purchasers of goods or services has remained relatively unchanged over the years. These buyers attempt to procure appropriate goods or services, balancing the quality of the goods or services with the price of the goods or services. The goal of such buyers has always been to purchase goods or services of an appropriate quality for a minimum cost. Suppliers of goods or services, on the other hand, are often faced with the task of placing information regarding their goods or services into the hands of buyers. Thus, a purchase transaction can, in some sense, be viewed as the culnination of an exchange of information between a supplier or vendor and a purchaser or buyer.
Where a purchaser or buyer procures a number of goods or services, it is not uncommon for the buyer to solicit bids from one or more suppliers. In the bid, the suppliers provide information desired by the buyer. Often times such a bidding process allows a buyer to procure goods or services at a reduced or discounted rate since many suppliers are willing to lower the asking price of their goods or services under such circumstances. Once a buyer has received the bids from various suppliers, the bids may be compared and analyzed and the best "deal" taken.
The above description highlights the various tasks faced by both the buyers and the suppliers in completing a transaction. From the suppliers' point of view, a large part of the problem can be viewed as one of information dissemination. Suppliers desire to have information regarding their company and/or products and services disseminated to as many potential purchasers as possible. To further these goals, companies may spend money on advertising, hire a sales force, attend trade shows, mail information, or otherwise attempt to disseminate appropriate information to potential purchasers. In addition, when a supplier is asked to submit a bid, the supplier must assemble the appropriate information and submit it to a potential purchaser. If the supplier submits bids to many different purchasers, the supplier must maintain records that identify which bids were submitted to which purchasers and track key dates such as the date that a bid must be submitted, the date that a purchaser will make a purchasing decision or award a contract, and so forth.
Purchasers face problems somewhat analogous to those of suppliers. Purchasers wish to collect information from suppliers that offer goods or services of interest to the purchaser. In addition, purchasers may wish to disseminate information regarding the types of goods or services needed by a particular purchaser. Furthermore, purchasers must have the ability to communicate with one or more suppliers in order to solicit bids, receive bids from suppliers, and analyze and compare the information in the various bids. Furthermore, purchasers must also be able to track critical information such as the deadline for submitting bids, the date for making a decision, and so forth. In addition, many purchasers have procurement policies and procedures that must be followed during the procurement of goods or services.
With the vast amount of information that must be exchanged between a purchaser and one or more suppliers, there have been various attempts to automate or facilitate the process using today's communication technology. For example, online catalog systems exist that allow a potential purchaser to browse through an online or electronic catalog, receive information about particular products or services offered, and place orders for those products with a particular supplier. Some suppliers have recognized the value of using electronic mail to communicate with potential customers and have begun to broadcast information to potential purchasers. This practice has given rise to the so called "junk" E-mail received by many. Unfortunately, none of the systems presently in place support all aspects of the procurement process and facilitate both the dissemination of information and the tracking of responses. For example, although it is known to broadcast E-mail messages to a plurality of recipients, no coherent mechanism exists that allows collection of responses from a plurality of individuals. As a result, even if a buyer used electronic mail to broadcast a request for a bid to a plurality of suppliers, there would be no way to track the responses to that request and easily assemble the information from the suppliers so that it can be compared and analyzed. What is needed, therefore, is a system that facilitates the tracking and collection of responses from a plurality of sources so that information relating to a particular bid may be collected from various suppliers and analyzed.
As previously mentioned, the bid process requires that certain dates be tracked and deadlines identified. Present E-mail systems do not allow for the tracking of deadlines. When an E-mail messages arrives at a particular location, a user is free to read or ignore the message as they wish. Furthermore, the only mechanism that exists for identifying desired reply dates is to include such information into the text or body of the E-mail message. It would be desirable to have a system that could remind people of approaching deadlines so that they would not be forgotten.
In summary, there does not presently exist a system that facilitates all aspects of the procurement process by supporting information exchange between suppliers and buyers. Furthermore, systems do not exist that allow a buyer to transmit information to a plurality of suppliers and collect and manage responses from suppliers so that the information contained therein can be analyzed and compared. Finally, systems do not exist that allow tracking of critical dates and deadlines and that facilitate reminding individuals of key dates and deadlines.